Game-fishing reel collectors keep a separate calendar for the Okuma Makaira limited-edition drops. The biennial run has cycled through Mahi Mahi, marlin and bonito-themed variants, and at the 2026 Saltwater Expo in New Jersey this week the Taiwanese reel maker confirmed the next entry: a Yellowfin Limited Edition that puts a multi-tone anodised finish across the full Makaira lever-drag lineup.
Davey's World Fishing host Davey was on the show floor for the reveal and walked viewers through the reel before retailers had taken delivery. He framed the launch as a continuation of a programme veteran Makaira buyers already know.
"As you know, Okuma every year does a special edition, or every other year does a special edition Makaira," Davey said. "Last year was the Mahi Mahi edition. You've seen the blue with the stripes — several different colours, all kinds of fun stuff that they've done in the past. But for the 2026-2027 season, they're going to do a yellowfin edition."
Where the Mahi run leaned on stripes and panel colour blocks, the Yellowfin Makaira goes anodised — a metallic gradient meant to mirror a fresh tuna.
"Check out that really cool anodising on that yellowfin," Davey said in the preview. "It's got the blue, it's got the gold, it's got the silver. Looks just like a yellowfin tuna fresh out of the water, right when you hit that thing with the gaff."
The reel's other surfaces lean dark to make the finish carry the eye. Davey pointed to a fully black-anodised spool, a murdered-out black handle and a black ratcheting plate built into the top of the frame. The mechanical platform is unchanged: this is the same Makaira lever drag that has anchored Okuma's offshore range for over a decade. Only the cosmetics shift.
"They're going to be available in that size 15T all the way up to the 130 in that yellowfin limited edition," Davey said. "They're making one run of these things. When they get them, they're going right out to retailers, so you're going to have to hit them fast."
That one-run language is the meaningful headline for anglers planning a 2026 tuna or marlin programme. The standard Makaira lineup runs from the 15T — popular for jigging yellowfin, wahoo and blackfin — through the mid-range 30T, 50T and 80W sizes used on stand-up tuna and small marlin, up to the 130 reels favoured by giant-tuna and grander-marlin crews. Buyers chasing a specific size in the limited finish will be locked into whatever volume Okuma greenlit for this single batch.
Davey did not have a confirmed retail price or a firm Australian release window in the preview clip, but Okuma's previous limited-edition Makaira drops have typically run a modest premium over the standard sizes and have moved through specialist game-fishing tackle stores within months of landing on shelves. For Australian buyers, that has historically meant ordering through dealers who carry the full Makaira range rather than waiting for a separate domestic release.
The Saltwater Expo, which runs out of Atlantic City and pulls in heavy charter and tournament traffic, has long been Okuma's preferred unveiling for new offshore reels. The takeaway from Davey's preview is short: if a yellowfin-anodised Makaira at a specific size belongs in a 2026 game-fishing programme, the time to register interest with a dealer is now, not when retail stock surfaces.